Writing about white men is a modern taboo. Despite any assurance I may offer, I doubt the average reader will accept on face value that this is not racist. I am in full agreement with Frank Zanu (Benin-born, African American thinker) that racism doesn’t actually exist.
Once you get that out of the way let’s talk about it: What will we have without white men?
Multiple Wars
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Conquest and Indigenous Genocides
The Holocaust
Colonial Exploitation
Environmental Destruction via Imperialism
Men have caused some problems, no doubt.
And of course, women would have been ‘allowed’ to make a contribution earlier to society and civilisation. And all accomplishments may pale in comparison to a non-white like Jesus. This is not about men vs women, or black vs white. It is simply an attempt to put things in perspective.
Women did some good stuff:
Ada Lovelace (UK, 1815–1852) established the conceptual foundation of software, which underpins: the internet, AI and more. Grace Hopper (US, 1906–1992) Invented the compiler (A-0 system) that made machine code human-readable. Without compilers there is no digital economy
Rosalind Franklin (UK, 1920–1958) Produced X-ray diffraction images that made the DNA double helix intelligible that enabled Watson & Crick’s model.
Likewise, there are paradigm-setting contributions made by Black Men.
Ancient African Empires and Knowledge Systems: Leaders like Mansa Musa (Mali Empire, 14th century) built advanced cities such as Timbuktu,
Iron Metallurgy and Technological Innovation: Ancient sub-Saharan Africans developed advanced iron smelting techniques by 1000 BCE, enabling tools, weapons, and agriculture
Mathematical and Astronomical Foundations: Ancient Africans contributed early calendars, archaeoastronomical sites (e.g., Nabta Playa, ~4800 BCE), and mathematical concepts, laying groundwork for later systems in navigation, timekeeping, and science.
Civil Rights and Global Human Rights Progress: Martin Luther King Jr. (led nonviolent movement, 1950s–1960s) inspired the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965), advancing democracy and equality worldwide, influencing anti-apartheid and other liberation movements.
Cultural and Musical Revolution: Innovators like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and later hip-hop pioneers (e.g., Grandmaster Flash) created jazz, blues, and rap—genres that birthed rock 'n' roll, influenced global pop culture, and provided platforms for social commentary on freedom and identity.
Black Women, on the other hand, can measure their impact almost exclusively in the Social Justice arena. Rosa Parks, Ella Baker and Harriet Tubman have made their mark agitating for a more inclusive world. On the other hand, high level breakthroughs are far and few between.
Black women were excluded first on the basis of gender and then on the basis of race, so limited contributions are understandable. Katherine Johnson (NASA mathematician, 1950s–1980s) calculated trajectories for Apollo missions, including the 1969 Moon landing. C.J. Walker (hair care products empire, early 1900s) created economic opportunities for Black women and Shirley Jackson (telecommunications research, 1970s–1980s) contributed to caller ID, call waiting, and fiber optics. None of these would necessarily be classified as paradigm-setting, but great, necessary contributions nevertheless.
The point of this essay is to try and put things into perspective, and maybe ring a bell of warning.
Men are accused of toxicity and there is an emphasis on the problems they bring to the table.
White privilege and masculine toxicity are weapons wielded in a war on white men in order to crucify them on the altar of diversity.
Press pause-just for a moment -and consider what you would NOT have if it weren’t for white men:
Foundational Philosophy and Governance: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle (ancient Greek philosophers) laid the groundwork for Western thought, ethics, logic, and political theory, influencing democratic systems and legal frameworks worldwide. Their ideas on reason, justice, and the state form the basis of modern governance.
Democratic Institutions: Pericles and other Athenian leaders developed the world's first democracy in ancient Athens around 508 BCE, introducing concepts like citizen participation and rule by law that inspired modern republics.
Roman Law and Engineering: Figures like Cicero and Emperor Justinian codified comprehensive legal systems (e.g., the Twelve Tables and Corpus Juris Civilis), while engineers like Vitruvius advanced aqueducts, roads, and concrete, enabling large-scale urban infrastructure.
Scientific Method and Astronomy: Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish) proposed the heliocentric model in 1543, revolutionizing astronomy; Galileo Galilei (Italian) refined telescopes and supported empirical observation, establishing the scientific method's core principles.
Physics and Calculus: Isaac Newton (English) formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation in 1687, alongside co-inventing calculus with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German), foundational to modern physics and engineering.
Chemistry and Electricity: Antoine Lavoisier (French) established modern chemistry through the law of conservation of mass in the 1770s; Michael Faraday (English) discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831, enabling electric motors and generators.
Evolution and Biology: Charles Darwin (English) published On the Origin of Species in 1859, providing the theory of natural selection that underpins modern biology and medicine.
Medical Advancements: Edward Jenner (English) developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796, pioneering immunization; Louis Pasteur (French) advanced germ theory and pasteurization in the 1860s, drastically reducing infectious diseases.
Industrial Revolution: James Watt (Scottish) improved the steam engine in 1769, powering factories and transportation; Henry Ford (American) introduced assembly-line production in 1913, transforming manufacturing and global economics.
Electronics and Computing: Thomas Edison (American) invented the practical light bulb and phonograph in the late 1870s; Alan Turing (English) laid theoretical foundations for computers with his 1936 Turing machine, enabling modern digital technology.
Aviation: The Wright Brothers (American, Orville and Wilbur) achieved the first powered flight in 1903, launching the aerospace industry and global connectivity.
Nuclear Physics and Energy: Enrico Fermi (Italian-American) led the first controlled nuclear chain reaction in 1942, paving the way for nuclear power and medicine.
Space Exploration: Wernher von Braun (German-American) developed rocket technology, instrumental in NASA's Apollo program, culminating in the 1969 Moon landing led by Neil Armstrong (American).
Economic Theory: Adam Smith (Scottish) authored The Wealth of Nations in 1776, establishing free-market principles that shaped capitalism and global trade.
Literature and Language: William Shakespeare (English) wrote plays and sonnets in the late 1500s that defined English literature and human psychology exploration, influencing global storytelling.
Artistic Innovation: Leonardo da Vinci (Italian) advanced anatomy, engineering, and painting techniques in works like the Mona Lisa (1503), embodying Renaissance humanism.
Exploration and Mapping: Christopher Columbus (Italian-Spanish) initiated transatlantic voyages in 1492; Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese) led the first circumnavigation (1519–1522), expanding global trade and geography knowledge.
Human Rights Frameworks: John Locke (English) influenced Enlightenment ideas on liberty and property in Two Treatises of Government (1689), directly informing the U.S. Declaration of Independence and modern constitutions.
Abolition of Slavery: William WIlberforce (English) devoted his life to ending slavery.
This list is much longer, of course - I haven’t even mentioned the printing press, the Reformation and more. Specific inventions like electricity have not even made the list. That is because this is not a ‘brag’ list and there is no need to get into a pissing contest of achievements of sex or race. For every Rosa Parks or Florence Nightingale, you mention, I will raise you a Tesla, Edison and Alexander Bell.
The list is long and impressive enough to justify my claim: civilisation as you know it, was built on the back of white men.
Alienating men will not serve civilization well–judging by their past contributions, you’d think it is obvious that positives outweigh the negatives. The flaws in men/manhood do not need to be tempered to the extent that we cannot be men anymore. Messing with the natural order of things, unpalatable as it may be to modern society, is messing with something that worked well enough to get us here. I am not making an argument for returning to or maintaining some imaginary status quo. I am not arguing for the inherent superiority of one group over another.
I am arguing for thinking about gender relationships, power structures, family and community with a better sense of history, instead of histrionics.
Right now, the world is throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.
Right now, we are living through the transition from living in the good times created by strong men, to a society of weak men that will lead to tough times.
So, in the words of Jack Nicolson as Colonel Jessop in A Few Good Men:
“I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know — that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.”
It expresses the sentiment I want to share here very nicely: men are not perfect, and make mistakes. We may cause wars, but we go and fight those wars ourselves - and don’t send the women in to do it for us.
But those who cast the biggest stones are blind to the fact that it was probably a white man who dug up the stones you are hurling at him. The very democratic vote that you cast to emasculate men, was a white man’s invention.
Politics is already flooded with weak men and liberal women who hold on dearly to fatally naive ambitions–so I hold no great hope that this appeal will find an audience.
The turn of the tide has a feeling of inevitability to it that is hard to explain.
I am no Ghandi or Mandela, so I have no expectation that these warnings will have any effect at scale. I take faint solace in the hope that it may change one person, one family who may end up raising the next Ghandi who will be there when the tide is ready to carry a new message that will hit the mark.
A butterfly flaps its wings in the forest.
